Abortion Emerges as a hypothetical Issue in Filibuster Fight
Filibuster reform is needed now, the Democrats should not let their resolve be sapped by unlikely hypotheticals and what-ifs.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said the concerns over women’s rights are “valid,” but she said now is the time to set up Obama to govern, not to try to outflank a hypothetical Republican Washington.
“There’s always a reason not to do something,” Mikulski told POLITICO. “It’s more important that we have our nominees now. We have a president that we know until 2016.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who co-authored a filibuster rules proposal with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), said fears over conservative judges being nominated by a future Republican president are a top concern of his colleagues. Merkley’s proposal would address only executive branch nominations, not judicial nominees.
“Advise and consent cannot become a tool used to undermine other branches of government,” Merkley said. “It wasn’t part of the filibuster reform I put forward, but I would be comfortable supporting it.”
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